The occupation army announces control of the Rafah crossing and stops the passage of aid completely

The Israeli occupation army announced "operational control" over the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, while humanitarian relief sources said that the passage of aid through the crossing was completely disrupted.

Israeli occupation army radio said today (Tuesday) that Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, claiming that "the forces of the 401st Brigade achieved operational control over the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side."

The occupation army added: “The forces cut off the Rafah crossing from the Salah al-Din axis, and now armored forces from the 401st Brigade are in complete control of the crossing.”

He pointed out that "special units launched an attack on the eastern region of Rafah," whose residents were ordered to be forcibly evacuated.

He claimed that during the attack, “20 militants were killed, and three large underground wells were found in the area.”

He pointed out that "the forces are now conducting combing operations in the areas that were controlled," claiming that "there were no casualties among our forces during the night."

Aid entry stopped

Meanwhile, travel and the entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing stopped completely, coinciding with reports of an incursion into it by Israeli vehicles.

A spokesman for the Gaza Crossings Authority told Reuters today (Tuesday) that the Rafah crossing is closed from the Palestinian side due to the presence of Israeli tanks.

Three humanitarian relief sources told Reuters that the passage of aid through the crossing was disrupted.

In turn, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Israel that a ground attack on Rafah would cause “terrible humanitarian consequences and drag the region into chaos.”

He stressed that the ground attack on Rafah "cannot be accepted," calling for an agreement to "end Gaza's suffering."

This comes after aid groups said yesterday (Monday) that their medical services in Rafah were affected or stopped due to the Israeli military operation in the city, as some services were suspended and the way for medical teams was blocked.

Targeting the vicinity of the Rafah crossing

During the past hours, Israeli air and artillery bombardment targeted the vicinity of the Rafah land crossing from the Palestinian side, while the area witnessed the sounds of gunfire and clashes between the Israeli occupation army and Palestinian factions, according to eyewitnesses and Egyptian and Palestinian media.

The Civil Defense Service in the Gaza Strip said in a statement: “Our crews were able to recover a number of martyrs and transport a number of injured people from under the rubble and rubble of several homes.”

He added: "Israeli warplanes bombed the homes of the families of Abu Amra, Al-Shamali, Al-Hams, and Abdel-Al in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip."

Since Monday evening, the Israeli occupation forces have intensified their artillery and aerial bombardment of areas east of the city of Rafah, in light of monitoring the movement of Israeli military vehicles at the separating border fence, east of the city.

Forced displacement

These developments come after the Israeli occupation army announced on Monday morning the start of a military operation in Rafah and began “forcibly” evacuating Palestinian residents from the eastern neighborhoods of the Rafah area to the Al-Mawasi area, southwest of the Gaza Strip.

The area that the Israeli occupation army was directed to evacuate includes the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, which is the main crossing point for the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza and the only one used to transport seriously injured people to receive treatment abroad, given the scarcity of medical capabilities in the Gaza Strip’s hospitals as a result of the war and Israeli restrictions.

Claiming that it is "the last stronghold of the Hamas movement," Israel insists on invading Rafah despite international warnings of catastrophic repercussions due to the presence of about 1.5 million Palestinians in the city, including about 1.4 million displaced people.

The Israeli war on Gaza left about 113,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and about 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and women.

Israel continues the war despite the issuance of a resolution by the UN Security Council to stop the fighting immediately, and also despite the International Court of Justice demanding immediate measures to prevent acts of genocide and improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.